Nelson stafford



NELSON STAFFORD, OF

BROOKLYN., NEW YORK.

Lezrsifaam No. 87,983, daad March 16, 1869.

MPROVEI) STENCIL-C'UTTING- GAUGE The Schedule referred to in theseLetters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom fitimwy conce/rn Be it known that I, NELSON STAFFORD, ofBrooklyn, in the county of Kings, and State of New Yrln.

have invented, made, and applied to use, a certain new and usefulImprovementin Steucil-Cuttin g Apparat-us; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the saidinvention, reference being had to the annexed drawing, making part ofthis speciication, wherein- Figure 1 is a plan of said apparatus, and.Figure 2 is a section of the same at the line :z: a. Similar lettersdenote the same parts.- In cutting out stencil-plates, the operatorusually marks a line upon the sheet-metal or other material,

lays said-sheetupon a block of lignumvitee, and ap plies the letter o1'other punch to the surface, placing it -upon the line, and then strikingthe head of the punch with a hammer. In doing this, the punch is liable.to slip, and frequently is not placed correctly upon the line, inconsequence of carelessness or inexperience in the workman.

Efforts have been made to remedy this difficulty, by the use of a heavyand cumbersome apparatus, iixed to the liguumvita. bed; but anotherdilculty arises in that case, viz, the lignumvitae bed' frequently hasimperfections and iiaws, and it is necessary to move the plate from oneplace to another. This cannot be done where the apparatus is fixed tothe bed or block.

`Besides this, it is necessary to hammer the plate flat after cuttingout one letter, and before impressing the next.

The nature of my said invention consists in aclamping-frame, for holdingthe plate, in combination with a movable gauge, for the punch, so thatthe gauge will act to steady the punch, and keep the bottom of the linestraight, and the gauge can be moved aside, for allowing the plate to behammered out flat, and the whole apparatus moved about from place toplace upon the block, as may become necessary.

In the drawinga and b are clamps, formed by hinged pieces, that receiveand grasp between their surfaces the edges of the sheet oimetal, orother material, forming the stencil, and the faces of the clamps thatgrasp the sheet stand at an inclination to thebacks of the clamps, s o

as to turn the edges ofthe sheet up slightly, and thereby the sheetitself will lie fiat upon a block oflignumvit, c, or other material, thebacks of the clamps being upon the same surface.

These clamps a and b are united by a rod, d, and either one or bothclamps can slide along upon said rod, to vary the distance between saidclamps, for accommodating different sizes of stencil-plates, and a'clamp-screw, e, holds the moving clamp, when adj usted to its place.

Upon 'the rod d is a movable gauge, j, that can be slid along on saidrod d, as occasion may require, or turned back from over the plate g, asseen-by red lines, fia. 2.

tThe edge of this gauge is used for guiding and steadying the punch, bythe operator placing the top or bottom edge of said punch against saidgauge, and holding it there while impressing the same in the plate orsheet g. The gauge can be slid aside ord turned.

back, to allow the plate to be hammered out Hat, after the letter orother openings have been cut.

The plate is to be moved in the clamps, for cutting one line afteranother, or, if preferred, the gauge j' might be fitted to lift ofi` therod, and one of a different width or length substituted, or a curved orinclined edge might be employed.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The clamps a and b, to grasp the sheet of .metal or -other material, incombination with the rod d and movable gauge j, the parts beingconstructed and arranged substantially in the manner and for thepurposes set forth.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my signature, this 25th day ofSeptember, A. D. 1868.

' N. STAFFORD.

Witnesses:

OHAs. H. SMITH, GEO. T. PINCKNEY.

